The journey begins

I actually began this journey last Wednesday at my seminar when my eyes were opened. I've known I NEED to do something, I've yearned for it, but kept putting it off. In the last year and a half, I gained 43 pounds. Yup, that's right. I have been on the road to out of control obesity. I am done going down that road. I have seen my sister suffer terribly through her weight loss surgery. I know as hard as it is to exercise and eat right, the consequences of being unhealthy are too high.

Here are some excerpts from posts to a fitness message board I visit.
My goals for this week are to get up at 8am each weekday to workout. On the weekends I will rest, but I will be more active (i.e. go for walks/hikes, run and play with kids, yard work, etc.) No dieting or calorie counting for now, though watch portion control and NO snacking after 8pm.

I actually began my new plan last Thursday. Here is where I'm at:

6/21 - Pure Strength (PS) Back, Biceps, Abs (BBA) - did 100%
6/22 - PS Chest, Shoulders, Triceps (CST) - did 100%
6/23 - rest - went for a walk with kids
6/24 - rest - walked home w/ dd from church: HOT!!!
6/25 - Body Sculpt Blaster (BScB)- walked to 2 homes we visited this morning.

I plan on keeping these goals for the first two weeks and then adding to or maintaining depending on what my body needs. I know for me after about two weeks my body will begin to get used to the extra work and it will become more of a habit. I had a huge wake up call when my daughter was 2 (she is 7 now) which lead to a couple of very healthy years for me. I have recently experienced a new wake up call and am excited to begin this journey again. I feel positive and energized and ready to make some major changes to this body! My purpose in keeping this journal is to help keep the momentum moving forward when life throws curve balls my way.

Posted 6/26 -
This morning I stayed in bed longer than planned but did get up to do Fat Blaster. The last time I did this video (been years!), I do NOT remember it being that hard. For the first "low" impact segment I kept up with the plyos and bunny hops, but that about killed me, so I modified the rest of the high impact moves. Not because I can't do them, but I think my heart would have raced right out of my chest!''

Last night I really struggled with wanting to snack, but I resisted the urge ... GO ME!!! My mind was playing such tricks on me that I literally felt hunger pains. I knew they were not real, because I had eaten well all day and had a good sized dinner. It was funny because a few days ago my sister (she had gastric bypass two months ago) was talking about the classes she took to prep for the surgery. They talked about how your mind plays these tricks on you. I was so glad we talked about this earlier in the week because I was totally able to spot it happening to me.

I have been thinking about what videos to focus on. I have been wanting to do a Cathe rotation, but after today realized I need to work up to her cardio. I think I am going to work on doing some Firms (that is what brought me success 5 years ago) and maybe doing some of Cathe's strength here and there until my cardio capacity improves. I would also love to work on Couch to 5K, but it's been too hot outside. For now it's a play it by feel. Maybe when I re-evaluate at two weeks I'll pick something more concrete.

Posted 6/27 -
Whew, just got done doing Firm Strength (FS). I was screaming (literally ) through some of those sets. I had to pause throughout to breath and drink water. But, I did it all! I was SO thankful for the stretch at the end. My body feels like jello right now!!! No snacking last night and it was not nearly the struggle I faced the night before.